Directorate: Curriculum FET
SUBJECT and GRADE HISTORY GRADE 10
TERM 2: Week 6: will focus on REVISION of the Causes of the French Revolution
Revision for this unit is divided into 5 sections as indicated below. You
may have to spend a minimum of 1 hour per section in this unit.
TOPIC 3 The French Revolution: How did the French Revolution (FR) lay the
foundations for modern democracies?
SCOPE OF LESSONS
Week 6
Section 1: What were the Political Causes of the French Revolution?
Section 2: What were the Economic Causes of the French Revolution?
Section 3: How did the social structure in France contribute to the causes of the French
Revolution?
Section 4: How did the period of Enlightenment and the philosophers contribute to the French
Revolution?
RESOURCES FOR THIS WEEK
Paper based resources
Learners must consult the Power Point slides that accompanied Week 1’s lesson; and their
textbook (Topic 3 Unit 1)
Digital resources
Revisit the relevant digital resource that you explored in week 1:
Watch the 6-minute video clip to revise your understanding of the period.
What caused the French Revolution? - Tom Mullaney:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBn7iWzrKoI
SCOPE OF LESSON: Section 1: What were the Political Causes of the French Revolution?
ORIENTATION:
To revise the significance (importance) of the French Revolution in modern society we must
ask:
• What were the political causes of the French Revolution?
Revision Activity 1:
KEY CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS
Within the context of the French Revolution define the following concepts in your own words.
Ancien régime: (1x2) (2)
Divine Right of Kings: (1x2) (2)
Revolution: (1x2) (2)
Revision Activity 2:
Revise with the purpose of preparing to study.
Make study notes OR create sketch notes OR a mind map on the political causes of the French
Revolution.
Visit https://za.pinterest.com/pin/444941638179351359/ to view an example of a sketch note.
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Revision Activity 3:
Key question: What were the causes of the French revolution?
Read Source 1A and answer the following questions in your workbook.
Source 1 A
This source is a revised extract from an online educational website. It examines changes in
culture and King Louis XVI’s poor leadership as a cause of the French Revolution.
For hundreds of years the people of France had blindly followed the laws of the absolute
monarch and accepted their place in life. However, in the 1700s, the culture began to
change. The "Era of Enlightenment" presented new ideas such as "liberty" and "equality."
Before the Storming of the Bastille, King Louis XVI had been losing power within the French
government. He was a weak king and didn't realize how bad the situation was for the
commoners in France. He was unable to make firm decisions to save the fate of France.
The economy was failing and King Louis XVI kept on appointing and dismissing Finance
Ministers. The members of the Third Estate formed the National Assembly to force the king to
make reforms. Not only was the king in conflict with the commoners, but the king and the
nobles could not agree on reforms.
From:
https://www.ducksters.com/history/french_revolution/causes_of_the_french_revolution.php
date accessed: 03 May 2020
1.1.1 Define the term absolute monarch in your own words. (1x2) (2)
1.1.2 List TWO ideas presented by the “Era of Enlightenment”. (2x1) (2)
1.1.3 What evidence, according to the source, proves that King Louis XVI was “unable to
make firm decisions”? (1x2) (2)
1.1.4 Identify TWO groups of people that the King had strife (conflict) with. (2x1) (2)
SCOPE OF LESSON: Section 2: What were the Economic Causes of the French Revolution?
ORIENTATION: To revise the Causes of the French Revolution we must ask:
• What were the economic causes of the French Revolution?
Revision Activity 1:
KEY CONCEPT AND DEFINITION
Within the context of the French Revolution define the following concept in your own words.
Bankrupt: (1x2) (2)
Revision Activity 2:
Revise with the purpose of preparing to study
Make study notes OR create sketch notes OR a mind map on the economic causes of the
French Revolution.
Revision Activity 3:
Key question: What were the causes of the French revolution?
Refer to Source 1B and answer the following questions in your workbook.
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Source 1B
The diagram below shows how bad the French government's financial situation was in 1786. As
the economic situation worsened, the state could only pay its debts by raising more from
taxation. The French currency was called the Livres.
Taken from: http://www.internationalschoolhistory.net/
Date Accessed: 03 May 2020
1.2.1 How, according to the source, did the French Government raise the largest portion of the
country’s income? (1x1) (1)
1.2.2 List four of the biggest expenses that drained the French economy. (4x1) (4)
1.2.3 After comparing the totals for France’s annual income and expenditure, briefly explain
why France was experiencing an economic deficit (shortage) in 1786. (1x2) (2)
1.2.4 How, do you think, Parisians felt about the expenditure of the royal household? (1x2) (2)
SCOPE OF LESSON: Section 3: How did the social structure in France contribute to the causes of
the French Revolution?
ORIENTATION
To revise the Causes of the French Revolution we must ask:
• How did the social structure in France contribute to the causes of the French Revolution?
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Revision Activity 1:
KEY CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS
Within the context of the French Revolution define the following concepts in your own words.
Feudal dues: (1x2) (2)
Merit: (1x2) (2)
Revision Activity 2:
Revise with the purpose of preparing to study
Make study notes OR create sketch notes OR a mind map on the social causes of the French
Revolution.
Revision Activity 3:
Key question: What were the causes of the French revolution?
Refer to Source 1C and answer the following questions in your workbook.
Source 1C
A French political cartoon, entitled "crushing taxes”. This picture shows a peasant being crushed
by the weight of taxes (taille, gabelle and corvee) and the social structure of France.
Taken from: http://www.internationalschoolhistory.net/ Date Accessed: 03 May 2020
1.3.1Which Estates do the two figures standing on the rock represent? (2x1) (2)
1.3.2 What is the cartoonist’s message regarding the causes of the French Revolution as
depicted in the source? (2x2) (4)
1.3.3 Explain why this source is useful in terms of portraying French society before 1789. (2x2) (4)
SCOPE OF LESSON: Section 4: How did the period of Enlightenment and the philosophers
contribute to the French Revolution?
ORIENTATION: To revise the Causes of the French Revolution we must ask:
• How did the period of Enlightenment and the philosophers contribute to the French
Revolution?
Page 4 of 6
Revision Activity 1:
KEY CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS
Within the context of the French Revolution define the following concepts in your own words.
Philosopher: (1x2) (2)
Age of Enlightenment: (1x2) (2)
Revision Activity 2:
Revise with the purpose of preparing to study
Make study notes OR create sketch notes OR a mind map on the philosophical causes of the
French Revolution.
Revision Activity 3:
Key question: What were the causes of the French revolution?
Refer to Source 1D and answer the following questions in your workbook.
Source 1D
This source analyses the impact that the Age of Enlightenment and the philosophers had as a
long-term cause of the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789.
The Age of Enlightenment occurred during the 18th century, in the decades before the 1789
outbreak of the French Revolution. Although the Enlightenment took place many years before
the outbreak of the French Revolution, its ideas had a profound effect on the French
Revolution. In fact, many historians today look back on the Enlightenment as a major cause
of the revolution.
The ideals of liberty and equality, that were needed to overthrow Louis XVI, emerged first from
the writings of important and influential thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment. Specifically, the
writings of John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Baron de Montesquieu greatly influenced
the revolutionaries in France. Each of these three Enlightenment thinkers questioned the
traditional authority of an absolute monarch and argued against the rigid class divisions of the
estates-system, present in France. Their questioning of authority and the role of the
government inspired the revolutionaries, and ordinary citizens, of France. In general, historians
often view the French Revolution as a time when the ideas of the Enlightenment were put into
action.
Taken from: https://www.historycrunch.com/enlightenment-impact-on-the-french-
revolution.html#/Date Accessed: 03 May 2020]
1.3.1 Identify THREE thinkers from the Age of Enlightenment who were influential in France.
(3x1) (3)
1.3.2 Why, do you think, members of the Third Estate would have found the philosophers’ theories
appealing? (2x2 (4)
1.3.3 Comment on the relationship between the French Revolution and the ideas of the
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Enlightenment? (1x2) (2)
1.4 Using the information in the relevant sources (A to D) and your own knowledge, write a
paragraph of about SIX lines (about 60 words) examining the causes of the French
Revolution. (6)
Refer to The Tutor’s Tips on paragraph writing if you need help.
Source Based Paragraph Writing:
• A paragraph question will instruct you to use the sources, as well as your own knowledge
to write a paragraph.
• This means that you read through the sources and see what information it gives you with
regards to the question that needs to be answered.
• The ‘own knowledge’ should be used to help you elaborate on the information that the
source gives.
• Remember to only write ONE paragraph.
Unit Activity:
Assess your CONTENT KNOWLEDGE on the entire unit by taking the online quiz:
What were the Causes of the French Revolution? https://tinyurl.com/ybt33954 (copy and paste
the link in your web browser)
OR access the printable quiz at: https://tinyurl.com/ybgnr8et
NOTE: this is not an example of the format for formal assessments
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